Meatless Monday {2020 – week 42}

So here we are: week 42 of Meatless Monday 2020… Pumpkin patches, playdates, museums, concrete cows, Victorian highstreets, and blustery new adventure walks. We have had a lovely week overall. What have you guys been up to?

Here’s what we wore:

Me: Gilet= Joules, Jumper = La Redoute {thrifted from eBay}, Long Sleeve Top = Superdry {thrifted from Barnardos}, Jeans = GAP {thrifted on eBay}, Boots = Clarks, Scarf = Inherited from Adam’s Nanna

Boys: Trousers and Jumpers, Long Sleeve Tops: Various sources/gifted/thrifted or supermarkets, Gillets: Matalan, Backpacks = Skiphop, Shoes = Clarks

What’s in my ears:

This week I listened to two more amazing and inspirational episodes from the wonderful Elizabeth Gilbert‘s Magic Lessons, the podcast which she did right after her book BIG MAGIC, if you haven’t looked her up yet, you need to and this podcast and this book! It is such inspiring and uplifting listening, where she talks through a creative problem/blockage with just general members of the public and then asks her professional creative network to advise the best way out of their particular conundrum. But what I love about it, is you the listener may not have anything in common with the person she is interviewing, other than being a fellow creative soul, but there is just always a lesson to be learnt out of it 🙂 Listen to this episode and you’ll see what I mean….

Here is the synopsis of the episode:

Here is the synopsis of the episode:

Here’s my week in 4:

1. Pumpkin Patch: I love Pop-Up Pumpkins, I have taken the boys since they were 1 and will continue to do so annually. 🙂 It is such a lovely place and a lovely tradition to keep going. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be possible to go this year with covid, but I was so pleased how our last minute plans came together and I was able to book and go with one of my dearest mummy friends too. We did have to pay a nominal fee for the tickets this yr, but it was so well run and we got some beautiful photos of the kids once again, it was a brilliant day out and definitely one I would recommend to others.
2. Successful Bread-maker Bread!: My 1st loaf was not all that, it was just stodgy and too close and not enough bubbles, and I wasn’t sure if I had my expectations too high for what a bread-maker could do, I had bulk bought 16kg of bread flour and 500g of yeast on Amazon, then I decided to try the next recipe in the manual and ta-da! Such an improvement on the last loaf, completely different texture, and all due to a different settling and the addition of a little sugar and olive oil to the ingredients. So now I have gone from wondering if I had done the wrong thing to – happy days no need to buy bread in the weekly shop anymore – whoop whoop! This is so the way forward, and is a plastic free swap too as I am using these lovely storage bags from EcoVibe (for 10% off your order please use promo code: JAMJAR10), to store the bread in once cooked 🙂
3. Milton Keynes Museum: We met up with my fellow twin Mummy friend Alice this week with her gang of gorgeous offspring at the wonderful Milton Keynes Museum. I was blow away by how good it was as I hadn’t been there since I was a kid myself and it was a much smaller set up. And they, again, have pivoted so well in these unprecedented times, such lovely, helpful and accommodating guides who were just brilliant with the kids and made the whole experience magical, and such good value for money, we will definitely be back 🙂
4. New Family Walk: My husband suggested a new walk over the weekend, to a really interestingly named woodland called Sharpenhoe Clappers, which was really lovely, well until being caught in a tirential downpour 5 mins before getting to the car, but it was a lovely new bit of the Bedfordshire countryside to discover, definitely worth a visit too 🙂

Video(s) of the week:

I’m finally getting back into my beloved Grey’s Anatomy this week, I have a lot of catching up to do, as I am on season 12 and they’re now up to season 16! This show is incredible, I have loved it since the beginning and now love it even more after listening to Shonda Rhimes Year of Yes (side note – if you haven’t read or listened to this yet you need to add it to your bucket list immediately)…

And side note, a lot of the actors are well worth a follow on social – these people really to put light out into the world <3 Here’s one from one of my favourites, Caterina Scorsone who plays Amelia Shepherd in the show… And the point she makes about finding community in this video when you face challenges in life really does go for every kind of challenge. I have learnt this lesson time and time again and cannot recommend it highly enough as a way to get through…

What we ate this week…

Breakfast:

Oh how I love Panettone Season – I am on board as soon as it starts 🙂 So we had toasted panettone with butter, fresh raspberries and apple and then the boys had their milk and I had a cup of tea.

Lunch:

I had a pack of paprika crisps mid morning, then I had my sister and niece over for lunch and one of my boys came home from school early, so I had two kids, two adults for lunch. The adults split this lovely vegetarian lasagne from Amy’s Kitchen with some side salad. The kids had some crackers, cheese, banana and apple. Then I had an apple, a cake bar and a cup of tea for afters.

Dinner:

After school the boys split an apple, and I had a cup of decaf tea and a pick up bar. For dinner I had leftover mushroom pasta mixed with leftover vegetable cous cous, the boys had their usual beans and toast. For afters I had a magnum double raspberry and the boys had a clementine each, I then had cup of rooibos earl grey before bed.

Print

Sun dried tomato and mushroom pasta in a garlic and herb sauce

Italian-style pasta made with easy ingredients. Mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes go exceptionally well together in this easy creamy pasta dish.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• a pack of mushrooms
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 jar sun-dried tomatoes diced
• 2 heaped teaspoons of Marigold Swiss Veg Organic Bouillon or one veg stock cube dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water
• 150 ml single cream
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
• fresh herbs from the garden I used some marjoram, oregano, thyme and sage
• 500 g of Rigatoni Pasta or your pasta of choice

Instructions

1. Fill your pasta pan with cold water and place on the hob to bring to the boil

2. Heat olive oil on medium-high heat, in a pan which can accomodate the pasta later, add sliced mushrooms and garlic – and cook the vegetables for about 3 minutes. Add diced sun-dried tomatoes. Reduce heat.

3. Dissolve 2 heaped teaspoons of Marigold Swiss Veg Organic Bouillion in 2 cups of boiling water. Carefully add the broth to the wok – continue to cook the vegetables in the broth on medium heat until the mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes absorb some of the broth and the broth reduces by half. Add cream and bring to boil just for a short moment. Add Parmesan cheese and cook the sauce, stirring, for a couple of minutes, on low-medium heat until the cheese melts. Add the fresh herbs.

4. Cook your pasta for 10 for dried pasta and 3 minutes for fresh.

5. Drain your pasta and add to your wok and turn over in the sauce before serving and enjoying 🙂

Please check out my Pinterest meatless inspiration board: #MeatlessMonday to gather some pinspiration:

Along with the official Meatless Monday board which I am also now sharing on:

Find out how I got onto Meatless Mondays in the first place by watching this video:

And check out #meatlessmondays on this blog to see all my Meatless Monday posts and recipes. Hope you have a lovely week. 🙂

Go on Pin it!